Updated Rules checked 2026-10-17
Grid trading splits a price range into many levels and places buy and sell orders at each level in advance, so a bot automatically “buys on the dips and sells on the rises.” Every completed buy-low, sell-high round earns the spread of one grid. Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and Pionex all offer spot grid and futures grid bots. According to their official documentation, the main cost of running a bot is the trading fee on each fill, and OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and Pionex all state that their bots carry no separate subscription fee.
Grids suit markets where the price swings back and forth inside a range. If the price keeps falling through the lower limit, a spot grid ends up with “all funds converted into coins,” and the unrealized loss may be far larger than what the grids earned before. If the price keeps rising through the upper limit, the bot will have sold all its coins long before, and it earns less than simply holding. Futures grids add leverage on top of that and may be liquidated.
I compiled the parameter rules, fees and minimum investments from six exchanges’ official documentation into comparison tables, and worked through a 7,700 USDT BTC grid under three market scenarios. There is also a claim that circulates online, that “grid profits require a conversion fee or unfreezing fee before you can withdraw them.” That is a tactic used by fake investment platforms, and grid bots on legitimate exchanges have no such fee. The later part of the article sums up what official sources and the police say.
Key points: grid trading automatically buys low and sells high inside a price range you set. Binance, Bybit and Pionex all state officially that the bot stops placing orders once the price leaves the range and resumes only when it comes back. Net profit per grid is roughly the grid spacing minus two fees: at a 0.1% spot fee, each grid needs spacing above about 0.2% to make a net profit, and about 0.1% at Pionex’s 0.05% spot fee. In this article’s worked example, a 10-grid bot trading 0.01 BTC per grid nets about 18.4 USDT per completed round trip, but when BTC falls from 80,000 to 60,000 the unrealized loss is about 1,708 USDT, which takes roughly 93 full round trips to win back. Futures grids use leverage, and Binance states officially that in extreme markets your entire margin may be liquidated. Grid bots at Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and Pionex only charge trading fees (Pionex Futures Moon takes 20% of total profit instead). A platform that asks you to pay a “conversion fee” or “unfreezing fee” before you can withdraw grid profits matches the fake investment scam pattern described by Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (刑事警察局).
The information below was checked against official pages on 2026-10-17 (the fact-check date) and is provided for reference.
What is grid trading, and how do exchanges define it?
Binance defines grid trading as “a type of strategic tool utilizing advanced orders to automate trading”: it places layers of buy and sell orders at fixed intervals above and below a set price, arranged like a grid (Binance Spot Grid guide). OKX describes it as a customizable trading bot that automatically places buy and sell orders at set intervals within a specified price range (OKX Spot Grid guide, updated 2026-08-05). Pionex calls it a program that “automatically executes trades based on a preset price range in the crypto market” (Pionex grid trading bot guide).
They all work the same way: after a buy order fills, the bot places a sell order one grid above; after that sell order fills, it places a buy order back one grid below. Binance’s official example uses BTC/USDC, a 40,000–60,000 range and 5 arithmetic grids, with grid lines at 40,000, 44,000, 48,000, 52,000, 56,000 and 60,000. When the price drops to 48,000 and the bot buys, it places a sell order at 52,000; once the price rises to 52,000 and it sells, it places a buy order back at 48,000. One buy and one sell make a pair, which Binance calls “Matched Orders.” Only completed pairs count toward “Grid Profit,” and the amount is net of the fees on both the buy and the sell (Binance Spot Grid parameters guide, updated 2026-01-07).
So a grid lives on the price moving back and forth. Binance writes that grid trading “attempts to profit from small price movements” and is meant for markets where the price fluctuates within a certain range (Binance Spot Grid guide). KuCoin recommends turning the bot off when there is a clear downtrend or signs of a bear market (KuCoin Spot Grid guide, updated 2026-08-20).
Spot grid vs futures grid: what is the difference?
Both types follow the same logic. They differ in what they trade, whether they can go short, and whether they use leverage:
| Item | Spot grid | Futures grid |
|---|---|---|
| What it trades | Spot: actually buys and sells coins | Perpetual contracts; Bybit supports USDT perpetuals only (Bybit Futures Grid Bot FAQ) |
| Direction | Buy low, sell high only | Long, short or neutral |
| Leverage | None | Up to 100x at Pionex (Pionex Futures Grid guide); up to 10x at KuCoin (KuCoin Futures Grid guide); at Bitget it may go up to 150x depending on the trading pair (Bitget Futures Grid parameters) |
| Price falls below the lower limit | Holds a full position in the coin and stops trading | A long grid holds its largest long position, losses keep growing, and it may be liquidated |
| Costs beyond the grid | None | Funding fees, paid or received each settlement period (Bybit Futures Grid Bot FAQ) |
| Worst case | The coins you hold keep falling, and the loss grows with the price drop | Liquidation; Bybit states that the maximum loss is the amount invested in the bot |
A neutral grid opens no position when it starts: Binance and Pionex both state that a neutral grid opens no initial position (Binance Futures Grid guide, Pionex Futures Grid guide), and OKX puts it as “no position at launch; a position opens only when the market price touches a grid” (OKX Futures Grid FAQ, updated 2026-09-14). On Binance, long and short grids can choose to open an initial position at launch. Because futures grids use leverage, a position is liquidated once the price moves far enough against it, and you may lose all of your margin.
How to set up a grid: range, grid count, arithmetic vs geometric, and investment
Where to find it: on the Binance website it is under “Trade → Trading Bots,” and in the app under “Trade → Bots → Spot Grid” (Binance auto parameters guide, updated 2026-01-07). On the Bybit website it is in the navigation bar under “Tools → Trading Bot → Spot Grid” (Bybit Spot Grid tutorial, updated 2026-07-15). Every exchange offers both AI or popular recommended parameters and manual setup, and the manual fields are much the same everywhere:
- Price range (upper and lower limits): the bot only places orders inside this range. Bybit restricts it: the upper limit must be between 0.8 and 3 times the market price, and the lower limit between 0.3 and 1.2 times the market price (Bybit Spot Grid FAQ, updated 2026-06-16).
- Number of grids: how many levels the range is split into. Pionex explains that more grids mean more arbitrage opportunities from price swings, but less profit per grid (Pionex grid trading bot guide). Bybit states that the narrower the range, the lower the maximum number of grids the system allows.
- Arithmetic or geometric: arithmetic keeps the price gap between grids fixed, geometric keeps the ratio fixed. OKX’s example splits 90,000–120,000 into 6 grids: 5,000 per grid in arithmetic mode, or about ×1.0491 per grid in geometric mode (OKX Spot Grid guide).
- Investment: Bybit’s bot draws from the Funding Account, so move your assets there first (Bybit Spot Grid tutorial). The bot spreads the funds across the grids, and the buy and sell amount per grid is fixed only once you confirm.
- Advanced settings: stop loss, take profit, Trailing Up and so on. Binance recommends setting a Stop Trigger price in advance to avoid losses from sharp rallies or drops. New strategies have “Sell All Base Coins on Stop” turned on by default, but with a large position or poor liquidity the system may not be able to sell (Binance Spot Grid guide).
The difference between arithmetic and geometric only shows up clearly when the range is wide. Binance’s official example uses a 400–450 range, 5 grids and a 0.1% fee: the arithmetic grid earns between 2.07% and 2.29% per grid after fees, while the geometric grid earns a fixed 2.18% or so per grid (Binance Spot Grid parameters guide). In an arithmetic grid every grid has the same price gap in dollar terms, so the lower-priced grids have a higher profit rate and the higher-priced ones a lower rate. Take the 70,000–90,000, 10-grid setup used in the example below: the lowest grid (70,000→72,000) has a gross margin of 2.857%, while the highest (88,000→90,000) has only 2.273%.
How much does each grid earn? The formula after fees
Binance publishes the formula for profit per grid, where c is the fee rate (Binance Spot Grid parameters guide):
- Geometric grid: r = (upper limit ÷ lower limit)^(1 ÷ number of grids); profit per grid = (1 − c) × r − 1 − c
- Arithmetic grid, highest: (1 − c) × d ÷ lower limit − 2c, where d = (upper limit − lower limit) ÷ number of grids
- Arithmetic grid, lowest: upper limit × (1 − c) ÷ (upper limit − d) − 1 − c
I plugged Binance’s example numbers back in to check: for the geometric grid, the 5th root of (450 ÷ 400) is about 1.02383; multiply by 0.999 and subtract 1.001 and you get 2.18%, matching the official figure.
Simplified, the net profit rate per grid is about “grid spacing − 2 × fee rate,” because one full buy-low, sell-high round takes two fills. That gives grids a threshold: the spacing per grid has to be more than twice the fee rate, or the more the bot trades, the more you lose.
| Fee rate (per fill) | Example | Break-even grid spacing | Fees as a share of gross profit at 0.3% per grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1% | VIP 0 spot at Binance, Bybit, Bitget | About 0.2% | About 67% |
| 0.08% | OKX VIP 0 spot Maker; KuCoin spot bots (20% off LV0 rates) | About 0.16% | About 53% |
| 0.05% | Pionex Spot Grid | About 0.1% | About 33% |
| 0.02% | Futures grids filled as Maker | About 0.04% | About 13% |
When Pionex’s AI recommends a grid count, it splits the range aiming for a profit rate of about 0.3% per grid (before fees) (Pionex grid trading bot guide). The same 0.3% grid hands two-thirds of its gross profit to fees on an exchange charging 0.1%, and one-third on Pionex at 0.05%. Full calculations for different grid counts are in Pionex grid bot fees; for how maker and taker rates apply, see maker vs taker fees.
Worked example: how much does one BTC grid make or lose in three markets?
Setup: BTC/USDT Spot Grid, BTC at 80,000 USDT at launch, range 70,000–90,000, 10 arithmetic grids (2,000 USDT per grid), 0.01 BTC bought and sold per grid. At launch the bot first buys 0.05 BTC for the 5 sell orders above, at 82,000–90,000 (4,000 USDT), and reserves 3,700 USDT for the 5 buy orders below, at 78,000–70,000, for a total investment of 7,700 USDT. Fees are calculated at 0.1% (VIP 0 spot at Binance, Bybit, Bitget) and at 0.05% (Pionex), ignoring slippage, fee reserves and minimum order sizes. This demonstrates the math; it is not a parameter recommendation.
Gross profit for one full round trip in a grid is always 0.01 × 2,000 = 20 USDT. At 0.1%, buying at 78,000 and selling at 80,000 costs 0.01 × (78,000 + 80,000) × 0.1% = 1.58 USDT in fees, leaving a net profit of 18.42 USDT; across the whole range, net profit per grid falls between 18.22 and 18.58 USDT. At 0.05%, net profit per grid is 19.11–19.29 USDT.
| Scenario (illustrative) | What the bot did | Holdings at the end | Grid P&L (0.1%) | Grid P&L (0.05%) | Same 7,700 USDT simply put into BTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Swings between 76,000 and 84,000 and ends back at 80,000 (assuming 10 completed round trips) | 10 buy/sell pairs fill in the middle 4 grids | 0.05 BTC + 3,700 USDT | +180.0 USDT | +190.0 USDT | 0 |
| B. Falls all the way to 60,000 | All 5 buy orders below fill; stops after the price breaks below 70,000 | 0.10 BTC, USDT used up | −1,707.7 USDT | −1,703.9 USDT | −1,925.0 USDT |
| C. Rises all the way to 100,000 | All 5 sell orders above fill; stops after the price breaks above 90,000 | 0 BTC, 7,991.7 USDT | +291.7 USDT | +295.9 USDT | +1,925.0 USDT |
How it is calculated: in A, 10 round trips earn 200 USDT gross; subtract 16.0 USDT in round-trip fees and the 4 USDT fee for buying 0.05 BTC at launch, and 180 USDT is left, about 2.3%. In B, 0.10 BTC is worth 6,000 USDT at 60,000, minus the 7,700 USDT invested and 7.7 USDT in fees. In C, the 5 sell orders bring back 4,300 USDT, plus the 3,700 USDT never used, minus 8.3 USDT in fees. Simply holding means putting all 7,700 USDT into 0.09625 BTC at launch.
The ratio between A and B is what stands out most in this table. One full round trip nets about 18.4 USDT, while the unrealized loss in scenario B is 1,707.7 USDT. 1,707.7 ÷ 18.4 ≈ 93, so the grid would need roughly 93 full round trips inside the range just to make up for one drop to 60,000. And once the price breaks below 70,000 the bot stops, so no new round trips happen; all you can do is wait for the price to come back into the range. Pionex’s guide also notes that once the price breaks below the lower limit, the grid profits earned earlier cannot offset the floating loss on the position (Pionex grid trading bot guide).
Scenario C shows a different cost: the grid sells its coins in batches on the way up and earns only 291.7 USDT, while simply holding earns 1,925 USDT. In other words, a grid’s gains in a rally are capped at the upper limit of the range, and once all the sell orders above have filled it stops earning. In a fall, though, it has to take every buy order, and it loses only a little less than holding (about 217 USDT less in scenario B, because nearly half of the funds were spent buying in batches on the way down). The difference between a 0.1% and a 0.05% fee is only a few USDT in this setup, because grid spacing above 2% is far larger than the fee; the fee difference only becomes noticeable once the grids are cut down to around 0.3%.
What are the risks of grid trading? Which markets make it lose money?
Several exchanges’ official guides warn that grids do not guarantee profit. Pionex writes that “grid trading does not guarantee profit” (Pionex grid trading bot guide), Bitget writes that Futures Grid does not guarantee profits (Bitget Futures Grid parameters), and Binance warns that digital asset prices are volatile and you may not get back the amount invested (Binance Spot Grid guide). These are the main ways a grid loses money:
- A one-way fall through the range: Pionex states that when the price falls below the lower limit “you hold a full position,” and the bot sells again only after the price returns to the range (Pionex Spot Grid FAQ). KuCoin says the bot stops buying and holds the assets it has accumulated (KuCoin Spot Grid guide).
- A one-way rise through the range: Pionex states that when the price goes above the upper limit “all holdings have been sold” (Pionex Spot Grid FAQ), so you miss every gain after that. It is not an unrealized loss, but you earn much less than by holding, as in scenario C above.
- Grids cut too fine: when the spacing per grid is less than twice the fee, every grid that fills loses money. Bitget also warns that with a very large number of grids, the actual fill price may differ from the grid price by as much as 3%, and some grid profits may be negative (Bitget 1,000-grid announcement).
- Stop loss or take profit triggering too early: Binance states that the grid ends once it is triggered (Binance Spot Grid guide), and it will not restart even if the price rebounds later.
- Liquidation and funding fees on futures grids: see the next section.
Why do futures grids get liquidated?
Binance’s Futures Grid guide is blunt about it: in extreme market conditions your entire margin balance may be liquidated, and it reminds you to keep your margin above the maintenance margin (Binance Futures Grid guide, updated 2026-10-12). Bybit states that a futures grid is liquidated once its maintenance margin rate (MMR) reaches 100% or more, and that the maximum loss is the amount invested in the bot (Bybit Futures Grid Bot FAQ, updated 2026-07-31). OKX lists the main cause of liquidation as “high leverage + an adverse market move wiping out the margin,” and says that reserving extra margin can lower the liquidation risk (OKX Futures Grid FAQ).
A long grid keeps adding to its position as the price falls, and by the time the price breaks below the lower limit it holds its largest long position. The estimated liquidation price Bitget displays is calculated on the assumption that “all long orders have filled and the position is at its maximum size” (Bitget Futures Grid parameters). As a rough guide, ignoring maintenance margin and fees, the drop that wipes out the margin is about “margin ÷ notional value of the position.” If the full position’s notional value is 5 times the margin, a further fall of about 20% from the average entry price wipes out the margin; at 10 times, about 10%. In practice the maintenance margin makes liquidation happen earlier, so go by the estimated liquidation price shown on the order page. To estimate it yourself, you can use the liquidation price calculator.
A futures grid holds perpetual contract positions, so it also pays funding fees. Pionex states that funding fees are settled every 8 hours (Pionex Futures Grid guide), and Bybit states that they are paid or received according to each contract’s settlement period. For how funding rates are calculated, see what is the funding rate; for the full futures fee math, see how futures fees are calculated.
Grid bots compared by exchange: grid count, fees, minimum investment
The two tables below only list what official pages state. Fee rates are VIP 0 standard rates, checked on 2026-10-17. Fields the exchanges do not state are marked as such rather than filled in with guessed numbers.
| Exchange | Spot grid count | Futures grid | When the price leaves the range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 2–500 grids (dynamic orders above 170 grids) | USDⓈ-M 2–1,000 grids, COIN-M 2–169 grids; long, short, neutral | Pauses orders, resumes when the price returns to the range | Spot Grid, Futures Grid |
| OKX | Not stated officially | Long, short, neutral; grid count not stated officially | Stops placing orders | Spot Grid, Futures Grid |
| Bybit | 2–200 grids (lower maximum when the range is narrow) | 2–400 grids, USDT perpetuals only | Places no new orders, continues when the price returns to the range | Spot Grid, Futures Grid |
| Bitget | Up to 1,000+ grids (dynamic orders above 160 grids; maximum depends on investment and range) | Grid count not stated officially; leverage may go up to 150x depending on the trading pair | Not stated officially | 1,000-grid announcement, Futures Grid |
| KuCoin | Not stated officially | Up to 10x; grid count not stated officially | Places no orders, resumes when the price returns to the range | Bot FAQ, Futures Grid |
| Pionex | Not stated officially | 2–1,000 grids, up to 100x | Pauses; holds a full position after falling below the lower limit | Spot Grid, Futures Grid |
| Exchange | Extra charge for bots? | Spot Maker / Taker | Futures Maker / Taker | Minimum investment | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | Charged at normal spot rates; Futures Grid profit is calculated at the Maker rate | 0.1% / 0.1% | 0.02% / 0.05% (USDⓈ-M) | No fixed amount; for futures it depends on grid count, leverage, range and the minimum notional value per grid | Spot fees, Futures fees, Futures Grid |
| OKX | No extra charge; bot fills pay the same fees as manual trades | 0.08% / 0.1% | 0.02% / 0.05% | Not stated officially | Spot Grid, Fee page |
| Bybit | No extra charge to create a bot; only trading fees on fills | 0.1% / 0.1% | 0.02% / 0.055%, plus funding fees | Varies with the upper and lower limits and grid count; shown in the investment field | Spot Grid, Fee structure |
| Bitget | No subscription fee for Spot Grid, Futures Grid or Position Grid | 0.1% / 0.1% (0.08% with BGB deduction) | 0.02% / 0.06% | No fixed amount stated officially | Product fee FAQ |
| KuCoin | No subscription fee; spot bots get 20% off LV0 rates, and VIP levels do not apply | 20% off LV0 rates (Class A coins: 0.1%, 0.08% after the discount) | Futures grids fixed at 0.06% | Depends on market conditions and how popular the trading pair is | Bot FAQ, VIP fees |
| Pionex | Bots are free; Futures Moon takes 20% of total profit instead | 0.05% / 0.05% | 0.02% / 0.05% (grid orders get the Maker rate) | No single amount; depends on range, grid count and trading pair | Spot Grid, Fee overview, Futures Moon |
None of the exchanges gives a fixed minimum investment. It is calculated in real time from your range, grid count and trading pair, and the more grids you set, the more likely each grid runs into the pair’s minimum order size. Pionex’s example is that BTC futures need at least 0.0001 BTC traded per grid (Pionex Futures Grid guide). As for fees, every fill in a grid is charged at the normal rate, and platform token discounts, VIP levels and referral code rebates all bring your actual rate down. Each exchange’s fees are in lowest-fee crypto exchanges.
Sign up for Pionex with referral code KEVINWU and the fee reduction is currently 15% (updated 2026-10-23), paid out in USDT every hour. As for whether all bot fills count, the Pionex rebate documentation I found only says that coin-margined futures fees are recorded whether the orders are placed manually or by a bot (Pionex rebate program FAQ); it does not say so in as many words for Spot Grid. Whether other exchanges’ rebates cover bot fills is not stated on their official pages either.
What is the “grid conversion fee” or “unfreezing fee” scam?
The usual pattern: someone you met on social media or a dating app introduces you to an “AI grid bot” or “quantitative arbitrage” platform, and the first few small profits really can be withdrawn. After you put in more, the grid profits on the platform look very high, but when you try to withdraw you are told to first pay a “conversion fee,” “unfreezing fee,” “security deposit” or “tax,” or that your turnover is too low or your account looks abnormal. Pay one fee and another follows. The official sources I found do not mention the term “grid conversion fee” specifically, but the pattern is the same as the fake investment scams the police describe:
- Criminal Investigation Bureau: scam rings meet victims through social media or dating apps, pull them into investment groups and let them make small profits first, then steer them to an investment website or app to put in large sums. After that they refuse withdrawals on grounds such as insufficient turnover, a required security deposit or an IP anomaly, and in the end the account is frozen or the website shuts down (Criminal Investigation Bureau common scam tactics: fake investment).
- MoneyWise (金融智慧網), the financial literacy site of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC): a common virtual asset scam is to set up a fake exchange and, when people try to withdraw their investment, demand a security deposit citing anti-money laundering or tax rules (FSC MoneyWise, updated 2025-04-21).
- The US FBI: when victims try to withdraw, they are told they must first pay fees or taxes, but even if they pay, they do not get their money back. Anyone who has already put money in should not pay any additional fees or taxes (FBI IC3 public service announcement, 2023-03-14).
- Real exchanges get impersonated too: HTX announced that people were posing as its staff and charging fees to lift withdrawal restrictions, and stated that complaints can only be filed through the in-app Help Center or the official customer service email, completely free of charge (HTX anti-fraud channel announcement, 2025-10-16).
Now compare that with how legitimate exchanges work. The six exchanges in the comparison tables above only charge trading fees for grid bots (Pionex Futures Moon takes 20% of total profit when the order is closed or reduced or profit is withdrawn). When you stop a bot, the assets go back to your account: Binance states that when a strategy stops, any unused fee reserve is returned to your spot account (Binance Spot Grid guide). Withdrawal fees are deducted from your account balance or from the withdrawal amount; OKX, for example, states that the fee comes out of your balance when the balance is sufficient, and out of the withdrawal amount when you choose to withdraw everything (OKX deposit and withdrawal fee guide). Legitimate exchanges have no such thing as a “grid profit conversion fee,” and they will not ask you to wire money or send crypto to some address before they release your withdrawal.
If this happens to you, here is what to do:
- Stop paying: do not pay any more conversion fees, unfreezing fees, security deposits or taxes.
- Check who the platform is: make sure the website and app come from the exchange’s official domain and official developer. Each exchange’s official verification tools are listed in crypto exchange scam types.
- Check where the bot runs: a legitimate grid bot runs inside the exchange’s own website or app. If someone asks you to transfer USDT to another “platform” or to a personal wallet, stop right there.
- Report it: in Taiwan, call the 165 anti-fraud hotline (165 反詐騙專線), or check and report on the 165 anti-fraud website (165 全民防騙網), and do it as early as possible.
For full cases and what to do when a withdrawal is blocked or you are told to pay tax or a deposit first, see what to do when an exchange won’t let you withdraw. For how to spot copy trading and signal group scams, see how to spot copy trading scams.
FAQ
What does grid trading mean?
Grid trading splits a price range into many levels and places buy and sell orders at each one, so a bot automatically buys low and sells high, earning one grid’s spread every time a buy/sell pair completes. Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and Pionex all offer spot grid and futures grid bots.
Can grid trading lose money?
Yes. When the price falls below the lower limit, a spot grid ends up holding a full position in the coin, and the unrealized loss may be far larger than the grid profit already earned. In this article’s example, BTC falling from 80,000 to 60,000 leaves the grid down about 1,708 USDT, which takes about 93 full round trips to win back. Futures grids can also be liquidated, and Pionex and Bitget both state officially that grids do not guarantee profit.
How many grids should I set?
Never so many that the spacing per grid falls below twice the fee: at a 0.1% spot fee, the spacing needs to be above about 0.2%, and about 0.1% at Pionex’s 0.05%. The maximum grid count differs by exchange: Binance spot allows 2–500 grids, Bybit spot 2–200 grids, and Bitget spot up to 1,000+ grids. The grid count Pionex’s AI recommends aims for about 0.3% per grid (before fees).
What is the difference between arithmetic and geometric grids?
An arithmetic grid uses the same price gap for every grid; a geometric grid uses the same ratio. In an arithmetic grid the lower-priced grids have a higher profit rate and the higher-priced ones a lower rate, and the wider the range, the bigger the gap. In Binance’s 400–450, 5-grid example, the arithmetic grid earns 2.07%–2.29% per grid and the geometric grid a fixed 2.18% or so.
What are the fees for grid trading?
Each fill pays the normal trading fee. OKX, Bybit, Bitget, KuCoin and Pionex state that their bots carry no separate subscription fee, and Binance states that Spot Grid is charged at normal spot rates. VIP 0 spot fees are 0.1% at Binance, Bybit and Bitget, 0.08% Maker at OKX and 0.05% at Pionex, while KuCoin spot bots get 20% off LV0 rates. Futures grid Maker fees are mostly 0.02%, and KuCoin futures grids are fixed at 0.06%. Pionex Futures Moon charges no trading fees and takes 20% of total profit instead.
Can a futures grid get liquidated?
Yes. Binance states officially that in extreme markets your entire margin may be liquidated, and Bybit states that a position is liquidated when the maintenance margin rate reaches 100%, with the maximum loss being the amount invested in the bot. As a rough estimate, if the full position’s notional value is 5 times the margin, a further fall of about 20% from the average entry price wipes out the margin, and actual liquidation comes earlier.
Do I really have to pay a conversion or unfreezing fee before withdrawing grid profits?
No. That is a hallmark of fake investment scams. Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and FSC have both described the tactic of refusing withdrawals on grounds such as security deposits or taxes, and the FBI warns that paying the fees will not get your money back. Grid bots on legitimate exchanges only charge trading fees, and withdrawal fees are deducted from your account. Stop paying and call the 165 anti-fraud hotline.
For the fee threshold for grids and calculations at different grid counts, see Pionex grid bot fees. Pionex’s overall introduction is in the Pionex review, and its referral code in Pionex referral code. Before opening a futures grid, you may want to read each exchange’s futures guide first: Binance futures guide, OKX futures guide, Bybit futures guide, Bitget futures guide, KuCoin futures guide. If you also do regular spot or futures trading, rebates can lower your fees: the Binance referral code KEVINWU currently has a rebate of 20% (updated 2026-10-23), the OKX referral code is KEVINWU, the Bitget referral code is KEVINWU, and the KuCoin referral code is KEVINWU; for Bybit’s rebate option, see Bybit fee rebate. Copy trading costs are covered in copy trading costs, DCA costs in crypto DCA fees, and other exchanges’ referral codes are collected in crypto exchange referral codes.